Bureau of Labor Statistics: Peter C. Fisk – You applied for a job but got no response. How come?

“A recent study may help to answer that question. Henry S. Farber, Dan Silverman, and Till von Wachter conducted the research and reported their findings in “Factors Determining Callbacks to Job Applications by the Unemployed: An Audit Study” (National Bureau of Economic Research, Working Paper 21689, October 2015). Their approach was to submit fictitious job applications in response to real posted openings, concentrating on three variable characteristics as possible factors in whether applicants received a callback: age, duration of unemployment, and whether the applicant had taken a lower-quality interim job. (Implicitly, the study’s definition of unemployed seems to differ from that used by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which would classify interim job holders as employed.) The three variables under study were randomized among applicants. All applications were for administrative support jobs, and all applicants were women with substantial relevant work experience and 4 years of college education. The report includes examples of the résumés as an appendix…”